Editor's Note

The Charge

Opening Statement

Pocket protectors, horn-rimmed glasses, and full-frontal female nudity
collide in this '80s frat classic about the clash of classes between the crass
asses and the spazzes with glasses.

Facts of the Case

Newly graduated from high school and heading to the prestigious Adams
College, best friends Louis (Robert Carraddine, Lizzy McGuire) and
Gilbert (Anthony Edwards, E.R.) are excited for a fresh start. You see,
they're nerds. Big ones. High-prescription spectacles, ill-fitting pants,
slicked hair, obnoxious laughter, proficiency with a Tandy, all the necessary
ingredients of '80s nerd-dom are present.

Their hopes for a clean slate are quickly dashed when the jock-laden Alpha
Beta fraternity makes it their mission to harass any nerds that populate the
college. After Gilbert, Louis, and their fellow freshmen rejects are forced out
of their dorm, they form their own fraternity (Lambda Lambda Lambda), made up
entirely of the college's social outcasts. But to achieve legitimacy, they will
have to band together and fight off the malicious machinations of the Alpha
Betas.

The Evidence

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I had never seen Revenge of the
Nerds before this review. I had caught pieces of it on TV, here and there,
but as we all know, edited, watered-down television transfers do little justice
to the source material. This throwback to the raunchy college comedies of
yesteryear needs to be appreciated the way it was meant to be, and this DVD
provides an impressive avenue to get your fill of beer-soaked class warfare.

The overview: Revenge of the Nerds has some prime
moments—anything with Booger (Curtis Anderson), usually—but I
wouldn't label it a particularly uproarious movie. It was, however, relentlessly
amusing and boasts that nebulous watchability that '80s sleaze comedies tend to
share. The film is stocked with memorable characters, from Timothy Busfield's
freakish Poindexter to Ted McGinley's a-hole jock Stan Gable, and contains a
trove of quotable lines (e.g. "That's my pi!" or "What the
f—-- is a frush?!"). It's dopey, but there is some charm here and
underneath the breasts, belching contests, and nose-picking beats an actual
heart. The bonfire finale is contrived, sure, but the anti-nerd persecution
speech surely connected with some of society's downtrodden.

It's easy to see why this film is a cult classic, despite its myriad of
shortcomings. On one hand, you have classic frat-boy humor, with guys taking
flying leaping into kiddie pools filled with beer, nerds getting tarred and
feathered, and liquid heat rubbed on the football team's jock straps. On the
other, you have the weird alumni-sanctioned Homecoming carnival that encourages
potential alcohol poisoning, the nonsensical romance between Louis and blonde
bombshell Betty Childs (Julia Montgomery), who, after being duped into sleeping
with the nerd—the same nerd who ogled her bare chest while hiding in her
shower, took pictures of her topless, and stuck them on pie plates for all the
campus to see—somehow falls in love with him, and the awkward
hidden-camera voyeurism with Booger clamoring for a glimpse of female genitalia.
Though, when the math is done, the plot misfires. Lame jokes and character
breakdowns are trumped by the memorable moments, a few of which I shall list
here:

Anything Involving PoindexterAs Busfield relates in the
accompanying documentary, Poindexter's memorable look was fashioned from a trip
to the thrift store while he was preparing the character. Kickass Coke bottle
glasses aside, this guy is the Prince of the Nerds, and his weird guttural howl
is simultaneously creepy and hilarious. His funniest moment, when he glances at
his crotch while watching the nude sorority girls and screams at a burgeoning
erection was improvised on the spot. Director Jeff Kanew can be heard laughing
in the background.

The Performance Piece At the End of the Homecoming CarnivalSurreal, freakish and '80s-riffic, the ensemble song and dance routine
including an electric violin, some dueling synthesizers, and a Japanese man
dressed as an Indian banging on a gong will forever haunt my waking moments.

Panty RaidThis sequence earns a mention not so much for its
wit, but more for its audacity. In response to a prank, the nerds assault the Pi
Delta Pi sorority house, steal panties, gawk at their various states of undress,
and plant cameras in strategic locations. They then settle in for the night
watching their footage, which includes the gratuitous shot of a woman removing
her underwear. Carradine, in the documentary, comments that Revenge of the
Nerds would probably earn a PG-13 these days and wasn't all that raunchy,
but there is no way they could get away with the full frontal nudity.

OgreDon Gibb would only outdo himself in Bloodsport, and
that's saying a lot.

Revenge of the Nerds receives an attractive 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer (I watched it on my Xbox 360, using the VGA upconversion)
that maintains a remarkable sense of crispness and color levels despite the
film's age. The stereo track is adequate, and sounds better when decoded through
Dolby ProLogic. A nice set of extras come with the DVD: The "I'm a Nerd,
And I'm Pretty Proud of It" feature is excellent, bringing together cast
and crew members that aren't resistant to unlading the behind-the-scenes dirt;
Jeff Kanew, Robert Carradine, Timothy Busfield, and Curtis Armstrong provide a
low-key, yet amusing commentary; Eight minutes of deleted scenes aren't anything
special; and if you're in a self-abusive mood, check out the bonus TV pilot for
Revenge of the Nerds, a truly Godforsaken bit of entertainment.

Closing Statement

A bodacious blast from the past, Revenge of the Nerds is raunchy,
stupid, borderline offensive—and lots of fun. This DVD is a solid
investment for fans of old school frat comedies.

The Verdict

Not guilty. Haw haw haw haw haw.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give Revenge Of The Nerds: Panty Raid Edition a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.